As the vote results came in, HSBC chair Mark Tucker could finally declare victory at the end of a fractious annual general meeting in Birmingham this month.
Tucker had spent a torrid year locked in a war of words with HSBC’s largest shareholder, Chinese insurer Ping An, who had turned activist at the bank’s previous AGM with a demand the 158-year-old bank be split in two.
However, despite its persistent and attention-grabbing campaign, the vote confirmed that Ping An failed to secure support from any of HSBC’s other large institutional shareholders. A special resolution backed by Ping An calling for an east-west break-up failed, winning just shy of 20 per cent, far short of the 75 per cent needed for success.